A/N: Hey guys! I'm back!

So not much really to say except I will try to update this fic at least twice a month. I know that doesn't sound like much but that's about two weeks between updates and I think I it's a do-able goal. I would say something more frequent but I don't want to promise anything in case I can't keep it.

Also I wrote this really cute oneshot that I added to Wait! What? So skip to the last chapter of that story to read the oneshot! It's really cute and a personal favorite so please read it if you can!

Anyway, a lot of bants in this fic, and hopefully relatable content about avoiding people!

Here ya go:

Today was just not Percy's day. His boss had decided that the order mix-up was Percy's fault (even though Percy wasn't even in the same room when it had happened) and as a result had ended up yelling at him for a good ten minutes. He had spilled his morning coffee, missed his bus and very narrowly avoided falling down the stairs to the subway.

Needless to say, after such a shit day all Percy wanted was his couch, pizza and Dr. Pepper… and a packet of Sour Patch Kids (he just really wanted the candy okay, don't judge).

He tiredly ran a hand through his hair as he walked down the aisles of the convenience store, wondering if he should just go all out on the junk food and grab a bag of chips while he was at it.

Before he could decide a ding from the door made him look up, and a flash of red hair caught his eye.

Oh no. He peeked around the corner to confirm that yep, that was definitely Rachel Dare.

Crap, he thought, as he backed away and ducked back into the aisles. He did not want to deal with this, not today. He could already feel the awkwardness starting to form and they hadn't even interacted yet.

He debated just making a break for it, but realized he didn't really have a clear shot. The only thing close to him was…well, it was a long shot, but…just maybe it would work. He was desperate.

He snuck up to the checkout counter, warily watching the tinge of red hair that was moving around in the other end of the store, and prepared to make his plea.

"Hi, I'm really sorry about this and I swear I'm not a bad guy, but that girl over there is my ex and please please let me hide behind the counter," he rushed out the words desperately before finally moving his gaze to the store clerk.

And holy hell he had not been expecting this. Before him stood a gorgeous girl with blonde hair and grey eyes who were watching him warily wearing a face of slight confusion.

Rachel started to move towards the back, and the panic was back. He turned back to the store clerk.

"Please? Just until she leaves, I really can't handle this."

He must have looked truly desperate or pathetic (he couldn't really tell), but it seemed to be effective because the girl moved to the side and opened the small door to let him in. He immediately dashed in and ducked down under the counter.

"Thank you so much," he mumbled from his hiding position, trying to convey his gratitude. She looked down at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You have so much explaining to do."

He sighed, "Yeah, I'll give you the rundown. Basically, the girl with the red hair is like an ex…friend? We were never like officially a thing anyway. And then there was this drama that went down and now things would just be really really awkward and tense and I've had a pretty shitty day and I really can't deal with this right now."

He might have rambled but at this point he just couldn't care. He just wanted to avoid this situation entirely.

An amused look adorned her face as she unnecessarily straightened up the stationery around the cash register.

"How can I trust you?" she responded, a small smile on her face that seem to be evidence that she believed his story.

"Don't you have that one friend or group that you try and desperately avoid because of shit that went down in the past?" he asked by way of answering.

She took a moment to contemplate then nodded. "Okay, good point. I can relate."

Percy let out a sigh of relief.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard her speak.

"Hello, find everything alright?" she asked, a polite smile on her face.

"Yeah, thanks," he heard Rachel respond. He shrunk lower.

"The total will be $12.50," the clerk said as she finished scanning the items.

Rachel swiped her card, grabbed her bag and with a last smile and "have a good day" she was off.

Percy finally let himself relax as he heard the door ding again and slowly stood up. The clerk turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"She didn't seem so bad."

Percy shrugged, "She's not actually, things just didn't end well between us. Thank you again for letting me hide. You really saved my ass there."

The clerk waved it off as he exited the counter. "It's alright, I've been there. But," she paused, "I should at least know your name, in case you do end up being a robber that I have to report to the police."

He rose an eyebrow, "If I was a robber, why would I tell you my name?"

She smirked back, "Well you don't seem to be mentioning it now so I'd say that's suspicious."

"Good point, let me clear my not-robber status. My name's Percy," he replied graciously.

"Well, Percy, you better not steal shit," she threatened but he could see the twinkle in her eyes.

"Shoot, there goes my plans for today," he joked back.

They laughed at the exchange before Percy calmed down enough to say, "And what about you? Do I get to know my savior's name?"

"I don't know, it's kinda confidential. All part of the secret hero bit." She winked and he couldn't help but laugh along.

"I knew it! I knew you weren't human, you can't be anything less than an angel," he flirted. Was he flirting? Well, too late to go back now, not that he'd want to.

The girl blushed slightly at the compliment and met his gaze.

"I guess I could mention it to you, but don't tell anyone else or you'll blow my cover," she whispered conspiringly.

"Pinky promise," he promised.

"Annabeth."

Even her name was beautiful.

"Nice to officially meet you Annabeth, thank you for your heroic services," he declared formally.

She giggled. "It's nice to meet you too Percy, glad I could be of assistance."

They smiled at each other for a moment before the silence stretched to awkwardness.

"So are you here to get anything or are you just a damsel in distress?" Annabeth finally spoke up.

He frowned playfully at her words, "Excuse me, I'll have you know I'm fabulous." He mimicked flipping his hair. She laughed at his antics.

"But really I came here for a packet of Sour Patch Kids," he answered seriously, grabbing a pack and setting it on the counter.

"Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a single packet of candy," she mentioned as she scanned the item. "That'll be $1.50."

He handed her a five-dollar bill and responded, "Yeah, didn't expect all this to happen. I've just had a really shitty day and the only thing I want is pizza and candy and sleep."

She handed back the change and he wondered if there was a good way to ask for her number. "Aww, well hope your day goes better now."

He grinned and picked up the candy, "It's already better now that you've been in it." He added a wink for good measure.

She blushed lightly and rolled her eyes. "See ya Percy."

She would definitely see him again. As he walked away with a wave, he had to admit his shitty day had gotten infinitely better.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Unsurprisingly, Percy was back two days later. That was about as long as he had managed to go without seeing her again.

She seemed to perk up when she saw him walk up, a bit shyly, clutching a pack of Swedish Fish as an excuse.

"I'm sensing a pattern here," she said as he put down the Swedish Fish on the counter. "Should I expect the hiding thing now too?"

He laughed, "Nope, that is hopefully a onetime thing. The candy on the other hand, you can count on a whole lot more of that."

"Got a sweet tooth?" she joked as she scanned the packet.

He smirked. "For you? Definitely."

She blushed again and lightly punched him in the arm. "Shut up."

"No can do, sweetheart," he called as he walked out.

True to his words, he was back the next day.

"You're going to get diabetes at this rate," Annabeth said, half-amused as she scanned the packet of Skittles.

"Worth it to see you," he winked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh that did nothing to dim the smile on her face.

"You know, I have a life beyond this store."

He fake gasped, "What, no way? I thought you lived here!?"

He laughed as she punched him in the arm again before sobering up.

"But for real, when does this life beyond the store start?" he asked softly.

"Around six, why?" she flirted back, leaning a bit closer to him.

He feigned nonchalance. "Oh well, I was wondering, since you seem so concerned about kicking my candy habit that you might want to come and fuel a different, more caffeinated addiction of mine?"

She seemed to consider this. "Normally I don't condone addictions but I guess I'm guilty of this one myself. So…I guess I could," she replied, dragging out the last bit as if she were reluctant to agree. The smile on her face said otherwise.

"Great, I'll see you around six then?"

No hiding the smile on either of their faces now. "Yep."

-.-.-.-.-.-

Percy was a bit early but he figured that it wouldn't be the worst to hang around the convenience store and chat for ten minutes.

"You're early," Annabeth commented as he entered.

"Couldn't stay away from you I guess," he tossed back grinning.

Annabeth's mouth opened in retort when her eyes suddenly went wide and she ducked beneath the counter.

"Wha-" he started to say but she quickly hushed him from behind the counter. He leaned over to see her crouching.

"What are you doing?" he whispered as he quickly scanned the store. Luckily the customer that had entered had not seen anything.

"What does it look like, I'm hiding!" she hissed back.

"But you work here!" he replied.

"Cover for me!" she whispered back.

He made his way behind the counter and stood there awkwardly.

"What is going on?" he asked, warily watching the new customer making his way through the aisles.

"Well you know when you have that one ex, friend, whatever, that you want to avoid…" she trailed off and an amused smile made its way to his face.

"So you're basically me from a few days ago," he stated.

She made a face at him, "It's all your fault, you're like a magnet for attracting unwanted people."

"What, no I'm not!"

"You so are," she replied with a smirk.

"Am no-" he was cut off by the customer walking up to the counter.

"Are you okay?" the asked said as he placed his items on the counter.

Percy snapped up to meet cold blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Uh? Oh, me, yeah, I'm good," he rushed out making a panicked face at Annabeth who was still hidden under the counter.

"Okay," the guy rose his eyebrow as if he didn't quite believe him.

"Listen I uh…don't work here?" it came out as a question.

"What?"

He glanced at Annabeth who was furiously pointing to her wrist. What? Oh, time. He glanced at the clock, it was almost six. Her shift was going to end. That meant someone else would take over. The person should be there by now. He just needed to stall.

"Yeah, I uh, I volunteered to hold fort while the clerk went to the bathroom," he lied.

The guy's face was filled with uncertainty, "Oh, okay…"

Percy nodded, "Yeah, so if you want to look around more, I'm sure they'll be back soon."

The guy nodded, probably agreeing just so he could avoid awkwardly standing there while they both waited.

"Annabeth! What do I do?" he whispered as soon as the guy moved away.

"Jason will be here any minute," she responded.

On cue, the bell dinged and another blonde-haired man rushed in, making a beeline for the counter.

"I'm so sorry I'm lat- who are you?" he asked taken back at Percy's presence behind the counter.

"I'm watching the place while your coworker is in the bathroom, but now that you're here you can take over," Percy rushed out, seeing as the customer had been watching the exchange. He exited the counter and all but pushed, who he assumed to be Jason in his place.

Jason for his part seemed extremely confused and his face morphed into shock when he inevitably found Annabeth hiding there.

Luckily, he recovered quickly and quickly checked the customer out. Once everything was in the clear Annabeth finally stood up.

"Oh thank god," she sighed as she stood up and brushed herself off.

"What is going on?" Jason asked.

"That was Luke, ex-friend person thing. Wanted to avoid a really awkward and tense encounter," Annabeth replied by way of explanation.

Jason seemed amused, "Weren't you telling me about the same thing happening with a customer a few days ago?"

Percy raised his hand. "That'd be me."

Jason turned to him surprised, "Wow. You're like a magnet."

Annabeth nodded. "That's what I said!"

Percy mock frowned. "I'm not! Stop bullying me."

Jason raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying, my ex better not walk in here."

Annabeth smirked and walked out from behind the counter. "Don't worry Jason, I'll make sure he gets far away from here as soon as I change."

"Hey! I was promised a date, not a potential murder," Percy teased as she walked into the staff room.

"Would a potential murderer give you their name?" she retorted.

"Well, a potential robber did," he called back.

"Knew it! Jason, keep an eye on this one."

Later when they were situated with coffee with a distinct lack of both thievery and murder, they had to toast to awkward encounters.

A/N: So what did you think? Can you relate in any way to this? Have that one friend or group you try your very hardest to avoid cause things just didn't end well and now there is tension or awkwardness? I know I do. But let me know!

Also this fic has all the banter, all the flirts :P

And thanks again to all of you guys for reading! And please check out the last chapter of Wait! What? to see my latest oneshot that I think is really cute!

Please Review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

See ya! :)